The government on Friday froze the assets of the operator of a North Korean ship seized for smuggling arms, the Foreign Ministry announced, just as Tokyo is engaged in talks with Pyongyang to return Japanese citizens kidnapped decades ago by North Korean agents. The ...

23 Russians lose visas over Ukraine: Japan will deny visas to 23 Russians, including government officials, as part of additional sanctions for letting tensions in Ukraine fester. Moscow vows to respond.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined comment if Tokyo will impose economic sanctions against Russia over its deployment of troops on Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula, only saying Tokyo will “properly deal with the situation by closely consulting with relevant countries.” The United States, Japan’s sole ...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that Japan has again qualified for an exemption from Washington’s sanctions against Iran, citing “additional significant reductions” in Tokyo’s crude oil imports from Tehran. Kerry said Friday that 10 European Union countries, including Britain, France and Germany, ...